John Maginnis: Treasurer's job too small for John Kennedy

State Treasurer John Kennedy is everywhere, never further away than today's headlines.

Since first elected in 1999, he has searched, plotted and inveigled to expand the duties and power of his office beyond what the constitution prescribes, which, by law and custom, is to shut up and write the checks.

A statewide-elected official has to do all he can to stay at least in the shadow of the governor and not to fade into the darkness of political oblivion. Kennedy has patiently, relentlessly, if only marginally expanded his official influence as treasurer and chairman of the Bond Commission. He has made good use of his assets at hand, particularly the once little-noticed Unclaimed Property Fund. What better way to touch the hearts of thousands by giving them back money they had lost track of and that was turned over to him?

Yet for so large an appetite for public service and attention, the governor's office seems better suited to his ambition. He clearly is interested in the job, as he regularly offers unsolicited fiscal advice, often in the form of stinging second-guessing, to Gov. Bobby Jindal, as he did to former Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

Lately, he has broadened and intensified his quest to establish himself as the state's leading watchdog of the public dollar. This fall, he went after community groups, defined as nongovernmental organizations, which have received state funding but not fully reported what they did with the money, as required by law. There may be little if any money left to recover from these groups, some now moribund, but Kennedy is using these examples to lecture the Legislature on how to stop future abuses.

With his crusade against the NGOs playing out, an investigative series by the Times-Picayune and Fox 8 News uncovering, among other abuses, blatant violations of campaign finance laws led the treasurer to call for the new Office of Debt Recovery to go after unpaid ethics fines, mostly owed by past unsuccessful candidates. The amount outstanding is only about $1 million, but the notion of tracking down deadbeat politicians makes for good headlines.

That inverse proportion of public dollars actually saved to publicity earned has caused his critics, often his targets, to label Kennedy as a grandstander bent on promoting himself instead of doing anything constructive.

Construction? He can do that, too. At a recent ribbon-cutting in Caddo Parish, Kennedy could claim as much credit for the newly completed 19-mile stretch of I-49 North as anyone else holding scissors. While completing the $671 million, 36-mile connection of Shreveport to Arkansas has been a priority of the Jindal administration, Kennedy has come up with big chunks of the funding with the help of his little old Unclaimed Property Fund. For all the money he tries to return, millions more pour in each year from dormant bank accounts and abandoned safety deposit boxes, utility and rent deposits and tax refunds, building up a kitty of more than $500 million. Kennedy had the bright idea for legislation to not leave that money in the treasury but to use it to back construction bonds for I-49. The state will issue $113 million in bonds next week, with $93 million to go to the last I-49 link to I-20, and $20 million for the longer road to go, I-49 South. It will take more than unclaimed property to build the southern link, from possible tolls to dedicated gasoline taxes, but, for now, idle refunds and deposits keep progress going.

All of the above has helped to earn Kennedy healthy job approval ratings among the three-fourths of likely voters who know him, according to statewide polls. Yet the ground he has staked out is still within the shadow of Sen. David Vitter, who, like Kennedy, might or might not run for governor in 2015. A recent independent poll by Southern Media and Opinion Research had Vitter leading comfortably at 30 percent, with Kennedy statistically tied with Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne in the high teens. It's questionable that all three of those Republicans would run, because the emergence of a strong Democrat likely would displace one of them. So far, only Dardenne is set on running, while Kennedy's decision might hinge on what Vitter decides.

In the meantime, acting like he could be governor gives Kennedy, who turned 62 two weeks ago, just enough to do.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

John Maginnis: Treasurer's job too small for John Kennedy

State Treasurer John Kennedy is everywhere, never further away than today's headlines.